Start Jayden Daniels or Deshaun Watson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Jayden Daniels over Deshaun Watson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Jayden Daniels at 18.2 points and Deshaun Watson at 16.9, a gap of 1.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.9 fantasy points for Deshaun Watson, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Deshaun Watson at 203.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 25.5 rushing yards, with a 20% chance to score a touchdown (12, 16, 13 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 18.2 fantasy points for Jayden Daniels, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Jayden Daniels at 198.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 30.5 rushing yards, with a 28% chance to score a touchdown (13, 13, 10 and 13 market sources).

That puts Jayden Daniels 1.3 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on the market projections.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Jayden Daniels is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 139 times and threw an average of 6.6 air yards per attempt.

Deshaun Watson, Week 1 against JAX: 51 of 51 snaps, 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 6 carries for 38 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 2 against TB: 58 of 58 snaps, 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 3 against CAR: 69 of 70 snaps, 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 9 carries for 47 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 4 against PIT: 64 of 64 snaps, 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Through Week 2, Jayden Daniels played 77 percent of WAS snaps, dropped back 61 times and threw an average of 9.3 air yards per attempt.

Jayden Daniels, Week 1 against PHI: 70 of 70 snaps, 18 of 34 passes for 164 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 31 yards.

Jayden Daniels, Week 2 against DAL: 39 of 71 snaps, 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 7 carries for 69 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jayden Daniels played 7 games for WAS and scored 117.3 PPR points, 16.8 a game, finishing QB34.

He completed 114 of 188 passes for 1262 yards, 8 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran 58 times for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Bo Nix.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Brock Purdy.
• Start Jayden Daniels over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Jayden Daniels over Bo Nix.
• Start Jayden Daniels over C.J. Stroud.